Saturday, November 04, 2006

Being an admirer of expositions of Vedanta by great men, many of whom happen to be from Ramakrishna Mission, it fills up by heart with immense joy when I see the following on the backcover of a translation of Upanishads book:

The words say "Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam is supporting Ramakrishna Mission in bringing these books at low prices." Tirupathi Venkateshwara supporting Ramakrishna Mission is the manifestation of the statement from Bhagavad Gita: "Dharma Samsthapanarthaya Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge", where Naarayana supports Dharma and the Vedic truths in many forms.

Some of the books on Vedanta I have read by people of the great order:

Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita by Swami Prabhavananda

Self-Knowledge etc. Swami Nikhilananda

Upanishads by Swami Sarvananda (both English and Telugu)

Lectures on Mandukya by Swami Ranganathananda

The Upanishads by Swami Gambhirananda

I have an intuitive feeling that, in the last century, Ramakrishna Mission has atleast matched the peethams set up by Shri Adi Shankara in propagating Vedanta.

2 comments:

Talking about RK mission and the Sankara peethams, interestingly (and i wonder if you know this), when Swami Vivekananda came back from the US there was opposition from the orthodox quarters (crossing the seas and all that).

The RK mission in Calcutta approached various orthodox quarters for support but were not getting it. At that time, the Sringeri Shankaracharya (widely regarded as a reincarnation of Sri Adi Sankaracharya) announced his unequivocal welcome to the Swami into India. This fact was used by the RK mission in garnering support for a rousing welcome.

I feel India is truly blessed in that we have had teachers coming at the right time. We need one NOW don't you think?

I did not know about the Vivekananda controversy. I just know that the Mysore Maharaja paronized the RK mission heavily, including the expenses for the Swami's trip.

I feel India is truly blessed in that we have had teachers coming at the right time.

Yes, India is truly lucky that great teachers with substance and -- equally importantly -- charisma kept on appearing in the pavithra-bhoomi. One tradition says that we had three great teachers. Buddha, Shankara and Ramakrishna. Each came approximately 1000 years after the previous one.

We need one NOW don't you think?

The previous paragraph of mine is quite disheartening isn't it? WE (people of this century) just missed one by a century:)

Not quite if we consider that we can learn from all three. Truly, the true teacher is the Buddha/Shankara/Ramakrishna within oneself!

Daily Inspiration Mailing List

If you are interested in getting short Vedantic messages as "daily inspiration", please let me know by leaving a comment on this blog, with your email address. (I will edit the comment removing the email address to save you from spam.) Here are the ones that I currently run.
Bhagavad Gita: The summum-bonum, the summary as well as encyclopedia of the entire Vedanta, recorded as a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, in 700 verses and 18 chapters. This selection is just a collection of 42 quotes from the book (see this post for all of them). A sample message is
2.16 naasato vidyate bhaavo naabhaavo vidyate sataH
Of the unreal there is no being; the real has no nonexistence. Ashtavakra Gita: A highly recommended Advaitic text, recorded as a conversation between the sage Ashtavakra and his disciple King Janaka. A sample message is:
The liberated person is not averse to the senses and nor is he attached to them. He enjoys himself continually with an unattached mind in both achievement and non-achievement. 17.17Adi Shankaracharya's prasna uttara ratna malika: A short work by Shri Adi Shankara, of 100+ verses, each containing a question and answer. The translation I follow is by Swami Prabhavananda. A sample message is:
60. What are the duties of a spiritual aspirant? To keep company with the holy, to renounce all thoughts of me and mine, to devote himself to God. Ramana Maharshi's verses on reality: This is a translation of a short work of forty verses by Ramana Maharshi. The translation I follow is by Shri Alan Jacob. A sample message is:
34. Disputing the nature of the Self without attempting Self-realization merely constitutes delusion.
Without trying to realize in the heart that reality which is the true nature of all, and without trying to abide in it, to engage in disputations as to whether the reality exists or not, or is real or not, denotes delusion born of ignorance.
sanskRita vyavahaara sahasrii: This is a mailing list for sending 6 random sentences selected from simple Sanskrit. The source I use is this (a PDF link). A sample message is:
bahu sundaraM asti kila etad.h ? It is very good, isn't it ?
dIpAvalI shubhAshayAH | Wish you a happy Deepavali.
eshhaH saN^ketaH kutra iti jAnAti vA ? | Could you possibly tell me where this address/place is ?
shvaH etad.h samyak.h paThitvA Agantavyam.h | Read this well when you come tomorrow.
adya tu virAmaH |Today is a holiday, anyway.
tasya ArogyaM kathaM asti ? How is his health ?
gItA anvaya sandhi vigraha : This is a purely Sanskrit mailing list, which send a random verse/verses from Bhagavad Gita, along with its anvaya and saMdhi vigraha. A sample message is:
yatra yogeshvaraH kR^iShNo yatra paartho dhanurdharaH .
tatra shriirvijayo bhuutirdhruvaa niitirmatirmama .. 18.78
yatra yogeshvaraH kR^iShNaH yatra paarthaH dhanurdharaH .
tatra shriiH vijayaH bhuutiH dhruvaa niitiH matiH mama .. 18.78
yatra yogeshvaraH kR^iShNaH yatra dhanurdharaH paarthaH\,
tatra shriiH\, vijayaH\, bhuutiH\, dhruvaa niitiH ##(##cha iti##)##
mama matiH ##(##asti##)## .
This has been made into a google groups http://groups.google.com/group/gita-anvaya-sandhi-vigrahaPostscript comment: Here are some links to subscribe yourself to the mailing lists:
http://groups.google.com/group/gita-nitya-sadhana-sutrahttp://groups.google.com/group/vishnu-sahasranama-mananahttp://groups.google.com/group/gita-anvaya-sandhi-vigrahahttp://groups.google.com/group/shankara-prashna-uttara-ratna-malika
The honor code for the mailing lists is the following: the mails would be read the day on which they were received!